Mabon ap Gwynfor: 9. Will the Minister make a statement on responsibility for the provision of personal protective equipment to care workers? OQ57473
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much to the Deputy Minister for that response. It's interesting, because a constituent of mine has been in touch with the office, mentioning that she now, because of breathing difficulties, needs a CPAP machine in her bedroom. As a result of this, she's received advice from the respiratory team in hospital that she herself needs to provide FFP3 masks to her carers. Now, she has...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Janet is the third speaker from the Conservatives to talk about learning to live with this disease. What level of deaths is acceptable to you?
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you to the Member. She paints a very depressing picture and talks about the tenancy hardship fund. Isn't one way of discussing the cost-of-living crisis to refer to it as an unearned income boon, because private renters are more likely to spend more than a third of their income on rent? So, as a Member, would you agree with me that we need to see the...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you to Jane for bringing this debate before us today. It's a very important debate for all parts of Wales, but I want to focus in the minute I have on rural Wales and to look specifically at Dwyfor Meirionnydd. I recognise and thank Jane for referring to rural Wales in her contribution. Of course, what we have seen over the last decades is the centralisation of services away from our...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the economic impact of Snowdonia enterprise zone?
Mabon ap Gwynfor: I had a very interesting conversation with an economist recently who gave me a series of interesting statistics as we discussed the Government's policy in terms of procurement, and this is what I learnt. Thirty five per cent of the workforce in Wales work in health, education and care. As a result of that and the number of people working in the public sector, around 70 per cent of public...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Apologies for my technical problems. Minister, I hear reports that Natural Resources Wales are buying family farms in Wales in order to plant trees, with concerns that this land will be no longer food-producing land and that the value of the land increases. This is not only damaging to agriculture, but also means that less food will be produced here in Wales. Is this part of the Government's...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you to everyone who has taken part in this debate this afternoon, and thank you to the Deputy Minister for his response. Thanks in particular to James Evans, the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire, for putting forward the motion in such a cross-party manner. It's a very important debate, because not only does it introduce a simple...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: 4. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of vascular services in north Wales? OQ57582
Mabon ap Gwynfor: I thank the First Minister for that response. Llywydd, some years ago, the health board in north Wales had something to boast about, namely the vascular service at Ysbyty Gwynedd, which was among the best of its kind. Then, for some reason, as you have mentioned, beyond my understanding, somebody somewhere, under the guidance of this Government through special measures, decided to centralise...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, Llywydd. May I take this opportunity to thank Cefin Campbell for his work in this role, and to wish him well in his new role? I want to ask the Minister, please—. There's been a great deal of coverage of the cost-of-living crisis facing so many people today. It's worth bearing in mind that the increase in energy and fuel costs also has an impact on our agricultural...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: I thank the Minister, and I'm sure you, like me, enjoyed breakfast with the Farmers Union of Wales, which was collecting funds for the DPJ Foundation recently, which does excellent work in mental health. This increase in input costs over the last few months is adding to a longer term problem facing our farmers. Here's a picture of how the costs have been increasing: back in 1970, you needed...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: 8. What legal advice has the Counsel General given to the Welsh Government regarding the UK Government's proposals to directly fund projects in Wales under its levelling-up fund? OQ57620
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much for that response. These levelling-up proposals look to co-operate directly with local authorities across the UK. There is talk of devolution in the White Paper, but it's devolution in the context of England, of course. The spin put on it is that they intend to reduce this gaping gap and the inequalities within the UK. But, working directly with local authorities here in...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. [Interruption.] Thank you for the welcome. I have to declare an interest at the beginning of the debate as someone who owns another property occupied by a tenant. So, why am I, of all people, putting forward a motion to control rents? Well, simply put, because this is the right thing to do. There are pressing crises that have happened throughout history...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Let us take one example from history. Following the second world war, what did Clement Attlee and Aneurin Bevan do? Well, they went about implementing the recommendations made in the Ridley report and strengthened rent controls, and embarked on a major programme of building public housing. Aneurin Bevan himself spoke about the need to safeguard tenants. And the people of Wales look to us...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you to everyone who has taken part in this discussion. Thank you to the Minister for her comprehensive response. I'm interested, I have to say, in the responses of the Conservatives. I'm thinking sometimes that they have written a speech ahead of time and haven't paid any attention to what has been said, because whilst one acknowledges—the...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Well, that is a concern, that that policy does mean that a number of social homes down in the Teifi valley and in Monmouthshire won't be built at the moment, but it's a matter for the Government to respond to that point. But I am very pleased to hear that the Government has commissioned a consultation into this, and I very much welcome that, because, if the policy is going to succeed, as...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you, Llywydd. I have agreed that five other Members should take part in this discussion. James Evans, Sam Kurtz, Jane Dodds, Sam Rowlands and Laura and Jones have expressed an interest in contributing, and I'm very grateful to them for that. Llywydd, it isn't every day that a Member has an opportunity to put forward debates in our Senedd, and today I have the honour of putting forward...
